This quick and easy Hungarian plum cake is a great way to showcase fresh, seasonal plums. It’s very nutty and delicious, perfect with an afternoon cuppa. Post updated 16 August 2018.
“Mum, why it so windy?”
It’s that time of year again. The gales have returned causing ferry transport disruptions. It’s getting dark early and outdoors is quickly becoming an unpleasant place to be. Any attempts at walking outdoors are done at a 70-degree angle.
There’s also a whole slew of contagions going around. Madam has the spewy bug – a mandatory 48-hour quarantine from school from the time of the last spew. Lovely.
It’s cake baking weather!
I found myself with four punnets of British plums the other day, salvage from working in the shop. They were past their best and a few of the plums had gone a bit squidgy, but I wanted to salvage what I could.
A perfect time to try out the Hungarian Plum Cake recipe a neighbour of mine had given me. He, in turn, had been given it by a Hungarian fellow he knows. Update in August 2018: said neighbour grows his own plums, and they’re now available in the village shop. It seemed an appropriate time to make this recipe again!
INGREDIENTS NEEDED FOR THIS HUNGARIAN PLUM CAKE RECIPE
- plums! I’ve used a small variety grown by my neighbour. These just need to be halved; larger plums can be quartered.
- ground almonds – I grind my own in a high-speed blender, but ready-ground will work
- dark soft brown sugar – this gives it a caramel flavour
- walnuts or a combination of mixed nuts, chopped
- eggs
- butter
- a little bit of flour – most of this cake is made up of nuts
- almond extract – don’t omit this as it gives the cake an extra almond flavour
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HOW TO MAKE THIS HUNGARIAN PLUM CAKE
Step 1: cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Step 2: add the eggs, beating well after each addition.
Step 3: sift over the flour.
Step 4: fold in the flour gently.
Step 5: add the ground almonds, chopped nuts and almond extract.
Step 6: halve or quarter your plums and place them, skin side up, over the cake. Bake!
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This cake, despite its sugar content, is almost savory. The recipe calls for brown sugar and I used dark soft brown sugar. This, along with the ground almonds and small self-raising flour content creates a dense, almost treacley cake studded with segments of purple skinned plums.
You could also use light brown sugar for a lighter cake, but make sure you drop the plum quarters in purple flesh side up so you can see the lovely colour after baking.
I still have quite a few more plums in the fridge… what would you do with them?
Hungarian Plum Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 150 grams butter softened
- 150 grams brown sugar
- 3 large free-range eggs
- 75 grams self-raising flour
- 100 grams ground almonds
- 50 grams walnuts or mixed nuts (chopped)
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 5-10 plums stoned and halved/quartered
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Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 C/ 160 C fan and lightly grease and line an 8-inch square or 9-inch round cake tin.
- Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition.
- Sieve the flour on top of this mixture and fold in lightly.
- Fold in the ground almonds, the almond extract and the chopped walnuts (or mixed nuts).
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin and arrange the quartered plums over the top. These will sink into the cake as it cooks.
- Bake for 40 - 45 minutes and then test with a skewer.
- Remove the cake from the oven and leave it to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container.
PIN THIS HUNGARIAN PLUM CAKE RECIPE FOR LATER!
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Have you made this recipe?
Take a photo and tag @tangoraindrop or use the hashtag #elizabethskitchendiary and share on Instagram and Twitter. It would make my day to see your creations!
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Coffee in Paris
My go to cake. Everyone who tastes it asks for the recipe. Thanks.
That’s one powerful blender, what a great idea to make your own ground almonds. I love plums and this cake looks super delicous.
I do like this recipe – the use of brown sugar makes it what it is!
Love the colors of this cake. I’ve made a similar one with oranges and almond meal so I know it will be delicious!
Such a pretty looking cake! Definitely a very autumnal bake, thanks for entering AlphaBakes.
A lovely autumnal cake – thanks for sharing with Alphabakes (though am I right that the W ingredient is walnuts but you used almonds instead? I’ll allow it just this once!) lol
how lovely would Love to try it bet kids would eat all before I get any tho .
This looks absolutely beautiful! That is such a beautiful cake I wish I could pop ’round yours for a slice (but it might not be good for my health of madam had the winter vomiting bug – had it once and it was terrible). Hopw she gets better soon and I might just have to give this a go!
What a lovely cake! I love its simple, rustic nature, which is just perfect for fall. I hope your daughter feels better soon!
Oh pass me a slice and some cream! Perfect for this time of year. Stumbled, pinned, tweeted and yummed 🙂
Wow that looks amazing and I have pinned it to try it later! #recipeoftheweek
That looks really delicious – I’ve never used plums in that way, I really must try!
Oh I do love a good plum cake! Yours looks and sounds delicious (the gales and ferry disruptions, less so!!)
What a great way to use plums. When making a fruit cake, I usually just go for apples and pears, but I am going to make this next time!
Almonds, plums and walnuts… such a delicious combination… I am definitely pinning this one on my TO TRY board!
Thank you for sharing
Helene
I would sooo make this if I had time
This looks wonderful-I would leave out the nuts, maybe using coconut instead. Thanks for linking up to #tastytuesdays
Yum! Love the sound of this cake, everything about it! Perfect for this time of year and it looks so pretty too!
I know exactly what you should do with the rest of the plums! Make another cake, wrap it up really well, get a box and mail it to me. If that sounds as good an idea to you as it does to me, I’ll even pay the postage.
oooh, the way you describe the cake as almost savoury really rings my bells…. those plums look gorgeous and you’ve baked a perfect home for them!… I love this weather, it’s so dramatic and it really is cake baking worthy!
What a fantastic way to use up plums. I much prefer to eat plums in something warm and comforting. Is it just me who thinks they taste better cooked?
I feel your pain though with the weather. “Any attempts at walking outdoors are done at a 70 degree angle” made me laugh so hard. The OH was teasing me the other day as I was almost blown off of my feet! The perils of being tiny in English weather.
I’m also stuck at home with that spewwy bug thing (tmi) so no baking today. I’ll have to bookmark this for another day 🙂
PS. thanks for sharing my easy roasted plums!
This looks so pretty Elizabeth, I prefer cakes that aren’t super-sweet, and have plums in the fruit bowl so may give this a try this weekend! Thanks for sharing, and for the link to my waffles too!
this looks delicious. I’ve not tried plums in a cake before, will try it out!
Dense and treacly make it sound fantastic. That sounds so great with plums! The weather on Shetland sounds crazy – but I suppose you’re used to it and prepared for mad winds! I hope she feels better soon.
That cake looks so delicious. I bet it is lovely warm with some cream. I’ve never made a plum cake before but I think I may give it a go.
This has made me super hungry now and i’m never normally a fan of plums! Perfect for this time of the year though. x